Automatic needle polish and buff machine



Nov. 10, 1970 P. s ROCKEFELLER ETAL 3,539,314

AUTOMATIC POLISH AND BUFF MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 196? INVENTORS PFHUP ROCKEFELLER GM EDMUND DERY ATTORNEYS V mw mm 1| mv Q H w 3w b a5 25 m 3w mm ml 3 Q 8 G m a m m m 0S3 Nw m 0492: m 25 @W 6? 4? 4mm 4mm zwm d E m6:

Nov. 10, 1970 P. s. ROCKEFELLER ETAL' 3,539,314

AUTQMATIC NEEDLE POLISH AND BUFF MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 8. 196? M mm VH Kw @w FE E a. 0 N R m m WE E M New 9U P L a United States Patent 0 3,539,314 AUTOMATIC NEEDLE POLISH AND BUFF MACHINE Philip S. Rockefeller, Litchfield, and Edmund E. Dery, New Hartford, Conn., assignors to The Torrington Company, Torrington, Conn., a corporation of Maine Filed Sept. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 666,297

Int. Cl. B24b 19/16, 41/02; A471 25/00 US. C]. 51-76 19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine is provided which conveys groups of upstanding needles along a predetermined path, whereby the needles will pass between polishing and buffing brushes, disposed on opposite sides of the path, at predetermined angles of orientation, for engaging substantially all portions of needles conveyed therepast and rotatably polishing the needles.

This invention relates to polishing machines, and more particularly to a novel polishing machine which is adapted to automatically polish and buff needles of sewing and knitting machines and the like, as needles traverse polishing members.

Prior art types of needle polishing machines are adapted for manual or automatic positioning of a group of needles, held in side-by-side relation in a holding device, over a revolving brush, with a back-and-forth motion of the needles across the brush, and from side to side, or with other desired motion patterns. Often successive stages are utilized, wherein different brush stations are adapted to apply different types of polishing compounds, with brushes in each station being constructed of various desirable materials.

The prior art also indicates that needles have been polished by rolling needles across the surface of revolving brushes or abrasive belts.

Prior art types of machines for polishing needles have often been found to be undesirable, in requiring a plurality of indexing operations, to move a group of needles from one station to another, as well as requiring complicated drive mechanisms for achieving oscillating motion patterns of the groups of needles, at each brushing station. Such complex motions of groups of needles increases the operational time cycle, as well as the labor involved, and have accordingly been found to be undesirable.

The present invention seeks to obviate the above and other undesirable features of the prior art in providing a means for moving a group of needles in a traversing motion, in order to effectively polish and buff both sides of the needles with a single setting and pass of the needles through successive brush stations, positioned along the path of travel of groups of needles. This method minimizes the required machine motions, in eliminating the necessity of indexing operations and the like, thereby resulting in a saving in operation time and labor, without sacrificing the quality of the needle product, in workmanship or appearance.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to rovide a polishing machine, which is adapted to convey needles and like objects such as pinion staffs for clocks and watches along a fixed path, wherein the objects may en 3,539,314 Patented Nov. 10, 1970 gage selectively oriented polishing means, disposed along the path, on opposite sides thereof.

It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object, wherein the polishing means are mounted in fixed positions relative to the needle path, but are adjustable about the path, as to orientation of the polishing means, and as to displacement of the polishing means.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel needle holder, which is adapted to retain a plu rality of needles, being conveyed along a predetermined fixed path, past a plurality of polishing means disposed along the path.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a needle polishing machine which includes an endless conveyor having needle holders thereon, for engaging needles and traversing the needles past a plurality of polishing brushes, whereby a single traversal of each group of needles past each of the polishing brushes is effective to completely polish and buff each one of a given group of needles.

It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object, wherein the brushes are rotatably driven and are pre-set to engage selected portions of needles being conveyed therepast.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a machine for conveying groups of needles which are aligned side-by-side, along a predetermined path, past spaced polishing members disposed alternately on opposite sides of the path, with the distance between adjacent ones of the polishing members being substatnially equal to, or greater than the length of an aligned group of needles, wherein the machine may be stopped in position for needle inspection, in which position none of the needles would be engaged by any of the brushing or polishing members.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a brush mounting structure for use in polishing needles being conveyed along a predetermined path, wherein means are provided carried by the structure for adjustably mounting rotatable brushes at selected angular relationships relative to the needles being conveyed therepast, and including means for displacing the polishing brushes as desired alongside the path.

It is a further object of this invention to accomplish all of the above objects, wherein means are provided for applying a polishing compound to the brushes, simultaneously with the contacting of needles by brushes.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the machine of this invention, with the mounting means for the polishing members and needle holders of this invention removed, for the sake of clarity.

FIG. 2 is a developed elevational view of the needle conveying means of FIG. 1, wherein there is illustrated the various polishing stations of the machine of this invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a group of needles and a portion of their needle holder, disposed in front of a polishing brush of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the needles, brush, and needle holder illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4, but wherein a polishing brush engages a group of needles from an opposite side of the needle path.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of a group of needles and their holder disposed in front of an angularly oriented polishing brush, with an alternative angular orientation of the polishing brush being illustrated in phantom.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are generally similar to FIGS. 5 and 4, respectively, but with the polishing elements being oriented at desired angular relationships relative to the upstanding needles.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of a polishing brush mounting structure, adapted to mount a polishing brush at each station illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 1010 of FIG. 9, wherein the needle support for engaging an opposite side of each of a group of needles than that side of each of the needles which is engaged by a polishing brush is shown, and wherein the devices for varying the disposition and angular orientation of the polishing brush are best illustrated.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the needles adapted for use in the machine of this invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, reference is first made to FIG. 11, wherein a typical sewing machine needle 15 is illustrated, including a shank end 16, a swaged or otherwise reduced diameter blade portion 17, a pointed end 18, a long groove side 19 and a short groove side 20. The long groove side 19 has a long longitudinally disposed groove 21 communicating through an eye 22 in a web 23 with a short longitudinally disposed groove 24 in the short groove side 20.

In needle manufacture, it is generally necessary to remove burrs and roughness from the outermost edges of the longitudinally disposed grooves 21 and 24, as well as to remove burrs and to provide a smooth radius for the web 23, about the eye 22. Also, the bottom surfaces of the longitudinally disposed grooves 21 and 24 must be smoothed, and generally all sharp edges around the outer surface of the needle must be removed.

The needles 15 are usually made from high carbon steel needle wire, or other suitable materials, and are generally stamped, formed, cast or otherwise suitably fabricated, resulting in rough surfaces and edges, with possible burrs and scratches which must be removed prior to plating, if plating is to be desired, such removing generally being effected by polishing or brushing. In other cases, needles are subjected to heat treatment, where in it often becomes necessary to remove a scale and discoloration from the needle.

Generally, polishing and bufiing operations comprise engaging the needle surfaces with a cloth, fiber, wire brush, wheel, or endless belts at high speeds, to which various desired abrasives or polishing compounds may be applied.

The buffing action of the brush, in combination with the compound applied, is operative to abrade or wear away surface portions of the needles 15, or in some instances to induce plastic flow of the surface of the product material to smooth it to a fine lustrous finish. The brushes are manufactured from a desirable variety of materials, to such shapes and size as required, and may be assembled with varying degrees of density. Also, the compounds utilized may be liquid, liquid spray, powder or bar form. It is to be understood that such parameters as brush types and compounds will vary according to the desired use.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it is seen that the present invention eliminates the necessity for intermittent indexing motiOns to bring needles 15 into Contact With brushes, in providing a machine 25, comprising a continuous conveyor member 26, disposed about drive pulleys 27 and 28. The drive pulleys 27 and 28 are mounted for rotation in suitable pillow blocks 30 and 31, which journal respective shafts 32 and 33, which are gear driven through shafts 34 and 35 by a motor 36.

The conveyor 26 thereby comprises two straight runs 37 and 38, and two arcuate runs 40 and 41, at the ends of the straight runs.

A plurality of holders 42 are provided, each holder clampingly receiving and engaging shank portions 16 of needles 15, comprising a group 43 of aligned side-by-side upstanding needles 15.

With reference to FIG. 1, it is seen that the groups 43 of needles 15 are loaded into holders 42, at the station indicated, and then progress in a generally clockwise direction toward station 1, wherein they are engaged on one side by a first polishing member or brush 44, which may be driven for rotation in a given desired direction, or may be oscillated, as desired. At station 1, the needles 15 are polished at their point ends 18 on their groove side 20.

The group 43 of needles 15 then pass to station 2, wherein they engage a polishing element 45, disposed on an opposite side of the path of travel of needles 15, the brush 45 being disposed as illustrated in FIG. 5, for polishing the point end 18 of each of the needles 15 on its long groove side 19.

Stations 3 and 4 utilize brushing members 46 and 47, respectively, alternately disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of the groups 43 of needles 15, with the brushes 46 and 47 engaging the shank end of the eye of a needle on the short and long groove sides, respectively.

The groups 43 of needles 15 continue around the pulley 2 8, with other holders 42 being filled with groups 43 of needles 15, at the loading station, each group 43 of needles 15 then passing to station 5, at which point it is engaged by a polishing member 48. At station 5, the needles 15 traverse past the brush or other polishing member 48 with a straight through continuous path, in the direction indicated by the arrow of FIG. 6, at which point the polishing element 48 engages and polishes the needle portion in the vicinity of the short groove 24 on the short groove side 20.

With particular reference to FIG. 6, it is seen that the brush 48 may be oriented or angled from the horizontal, either in the counterclockwise direction illustrated in full lines in FIG. 6, or in the clockwise direction illustrated in phantom in FIG. 6. However, the generally cylindrical outer surface 50 of the brush 48 remains generally parallel to the direction of movement of the needles 15, past station 5, as viewed in plan in FIG. 1. Also, it is to be noted that the angular disposition of the brush 48 of station 5, as viewed in FIG. 6, is adapted to enable the brush 48 to cover the length of the blade 17 of the needle 15, in its polishing operation.

The group 43 of needles 15 then progresses to station 6, wherein a brush 51 engages the needle long groove side 1%, for polishing and removing burrs from the long groove si e 21.

The group 43 of needles 15 then passes along its predetermined linear path past the stations 7 and 8, alternately positioned on opposite sides of its path, wherein blade portions 17 of short and long groove sides 20 and 18, respectively, are polished, with their respective brushes 52 and 53 being selectively positioned and oriented, as desired.

The group 43 of needles 15 then proceeds around the arcuate path defined by the pulley member 27, to the unloading station, at which point the group 43 of needles 15 may be removed, and another group of needles may be placed in the holder 42.

The brush stations are generally identical in construction, and therefore only a single one may be described in detail. Reference is made in this regard to FIG. 9,

wherein there is illustrated a frame member 55, comprising a base 56 having a bottom flange 57 for support on a floor, or the like, and a carrier plate 58. The base 56 includes a member 60, having lips 61 and 62, extending generally toward each other, defining therebetween, a longitudinal channel 63, in which is received the continuously moving carrier 26. The carrier 26 may be a conveyor timing belt, or could be a link chain or the like.

Connected to the carrier 26 are a plurality of generally L-shaped platens 64, each having a generally upstanding wall portion 65 and a generally horizontally disposed base portion 66. A generally scissors-like tong 67 is mounted on each platen 64, and comprises a needle holder, such as that 42, at its upper end.

The scissors-like tong 67 includes opposed portions 68 and 70, having a pivotal interconnection 71, against which is engaged a manually actuable member 72 which is connected to a pivotal member 73, secured by a pivotal connection 74 to the plate 64, whereby engagement of the member 72, is operative to separate the legs 68 and of the scissors-like tong 67, upon removal of a quickacting clamp member 75. When the clamp member 75 is in the position illustrated in FIG. 10, an innermost end 76 of the member 73 mairitains the opposed portions 68 and 70 of the tong 67 in the clamped position illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. That portion of the holder 42 which is connected to the tong portion '68 includes a needle support 77, against which shank ends 16 of needles 15 may rest. Opposite sides of each holder 42 are provided with a rubber or other resilient lining 78 and 80, for resiliently engaging the needles 15, in a positive clamping arrangement.

The carrier plate 58 is secured to the base 56, and carries a swivel plate 81, mounted thereon for pivotal movement by means of a shoulder bolt 82.

A bearing bracket 83 having a generally horizontally disposed flange 84 and a generally vertical plate 85 is mounted on the swivel plate 81, with the plate 85 carrying bearings 86 and 87, in which are journalled a shaft 88. A yoke 90 is mounted for pivotal movement about the shaft 88, and has spaced ends. 91 and 92, in which a spindle 93 is rotatably mounted in solid carbide bushings 94 and 95, for relative rotation between the ends of the spindle 93 and the bushings 94 and 95.

A polishing brush, such as that 44, or any of 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52 or 53 is carried on the spindle 93, for rotation therewith.

A pulley 96 is keyed or otherwise secured to the spindle 93, for driving the spindle.

An adjusting screw 97 is threaded through the yoke 90, and engages against the swivel plate 81, the screw 97 having a manually actuable head 98, for turning the same and varying the position of the brush 44 at desired spaced positions outwardly, away from the plate 81.

The brush 44 is also adjustable in a vertical direction, by means of bolts 100, which clamp the bracket 83 onto the swivel plate 81, through sloted holes (not shown) in the plate 85, the precise vertical position of the bracket 83 being determined by adjustment of a knob 102 of a threaded member 101, which is engaged in the generally horizontal plate 84 of the member 83, through an uppermost horizontal plate 103 secured at the upper end of the swivel plate 81.

A motor 104 is carried on a bracket 105, the bracket 105 also being of generally L-shaped configuration, and being mounted by means of bolts 106 extending through slotted holes 107 to clamp the bracket 105 to the swivel plate 81, with the vertical position of the bracket 105 being determined by the adjusted position of a threaded member 108, extending through the horizontal plate 103 at the upper end of the swivel plate 81. Thus, upon actuation of a handle 110 at the upper end of the threaded member 108, the position of the motor 104 may also be adjusted vertically, corresponding to the vertical adjustment of the brush 44.

The motor 104 has an output pulley 111, and a drive belt 112 connecting the output pulley 111 with the drive pulley 96 on the spindle 93.

The particular angular orientation of the swivel plate 81, and consequently of the rotatable brush 44, relative to the support plate 58 is determined by selective adjustment of threaded members 113 and 114. Each of the threaded members 113 and 114 is threaded through the generally horizontal plate 103, and the lower end thereof engages against an upper end of the support plate 58, for locking the swivel plate 81, in a given position of clockwise or counterclockwise pivoting about the shoulder stud 82, upon actuation of the respective handles 115 and 116 of the threaded members 113 and 114. This is possible because of the locations of the threaded members 113 and 114, equidistantly spaced to opposite sides of the pivot point or shoulder stud 82.

A hood 117 is provided, substantially housing the brush 44, the upper end of which extends between opposed legs 91 and 92 of the yoke 90. A compound supply tank 118 is carried 'by the base 57, for delivering compound under pressure, either from a pressurized tank, or from a pump, through the line 120 and the nozzle 121, into the hood 117, and onto the surface of the brush 44, or other polishing member. Also, an exhaust system is provided, whereby a suitable vacuum source (not shown) may draw excess compound and minute needle particles which have been brushed from a needle 15, through the hood 117, and through a vacuum line 122, in the direction of the arrow indicated in FIG. 10.

A needle blade support device 123 is provided, mounted on and carried by the swivel plate 81, for movement therewith. The needle support 123 includes a plurality of generally outwardly extending horizontal rods 124 and 125, to which are clampingly secured and adjustably positioned a pair of telescoping rods 126 and 127, respectively. The telescoping rods 126 and 127 carry at their lower ends, horizontal rod portions 128 and 130, adjustably received within the lower or inner ones of the telescoping rods 126 and 127. The rods 128 and 130 carry between them a generally longitudinally disposed rod 131, which is adapted to engage behind a plurality of needles 15, in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, to provide a support for the needles 15, as they are polished by the rotating brush 44, being consequently placed under a transverse force from the brush 44.

It is to be noted that the conveyor 26 is slidably engaged within the channel 63 of the brush support 56, and there-by the position of the needles 15, relative to the brush 44 is controlled, as the needles 15 are traversed across the surface of the brush 44, because of the rigid clamping of the shanks 16 of the needles 15 within the holders 42, the holders 42 being securely closed by the closed position of the tongs 67, carried on the conveyor 26 It is to be noted that generally the tongs 67 are posi tioned on the platens 64, on the conveyor 26, in a generally central position relative to the brushes 44, in order that, when it is desired to inspect the groups 43 of needles 15, the machine 25 may be shut down at such a time that all of the groups 43 of needles 15, which are in linear portions 37 and 38 of the path of needle conveyance may be disposed midway between adjacent ones of the brushes 44 through 48 and 51 through 53, with the groups 43 of needles being between respective stations of the machine. Also, by shutting the machine 25 on and off, rapidly, as desired, all of the tongs 67 may be correctly positioned relative to an associated brush 44, or none will be so postioned, and the machine may be then jogged, or run for a limited time until all of the tongs 67 and the groups of needles 43, carried thereby are in a desired position betwen adjacent brushes 44.

In initially setting up the machine operation, a sample tong 67 may be attached to a platen 64, after making the necessary adjustments to a first station (station 1), to position the brush 44 with respect to needle length and diameter, the conveyor 26 is then jogged to transport the group 43 of nedles 15 past the side of the brush 44, with a straight through constant traversing speed. Inspection of the needles may then be made by removing the tong 67, and checking the needles to determine whether the polishing operation at that first station has been satisfactory. If the operation is unsatisfactory, various parameters may be adjusted, such as the brush settings, the traverse speed of the conveyor, the timing cycle of the compound applicator, and the amount of compound. The tong 67 may then be attached to the next successive platen 64, and the process repeated. This same procedure would be followed at each of the consecutive stations.

Upon completion of the final station set-up, the machine is ready for its production run. The tongs 67 are manually or automatically attached to the continuously moving platens 64, and the needles 15 are carried past each station in consecutive order for their respective operations at the desired traversing speed. At the discharge stations, the tongs 67 are manually or automatically removed from the platens 64, the needles 15 then being removed from the tongs 67 and placed in tote pans for polishing the needle shanks 16 as desired. Alternatively, the needles 15 in a group 43, may be transferred to an other tong 67, whereby they are held by the blades 17, leaving the shanks exposed.

It is to be noted that it may be desirable, in a given polishing operation, not to utilize all of the polishing or brushing stages, depending upon the degree of polishing or buifing desired. In those instances, the brushes or polishing members may be adjusted out of operative position.

Other features of the machine of this invention of a noteworthy nature are the interchangeability of the tongs 67, as well as the spindles 93, for each brushing station. Also, the stations themselves facilitate maximizing the productive capabilities, in the flexible nature of the same, wherein any given station may be used to perform a desired polishing or bufiing operation.

It is thus seen that this invention seeks to provide a simple machine which utilizes a straight through, continuous path of the needles from one brushing, polishing, or bufiing station to another, eliminating the necessity of intermittent indexing to bring the needles 15 in contact with the brushes, and further eliminating the necessity of oscillating the brushes or tongs 67 from side-to-side, or back and forth. Additionally, it is not necessary to turn the tongs 67 and their carried needles throughout a range of 180 degrees, in order to polish the opposite sides of the needles, as prior art devices often require.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provisions have been made for carrying out the desired end. However, attention is again directed to the fact that additional variations may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

1. A polishing machine comprising means for conveying needle-like items along a fixed predetermined path, polishing means for engaging items thus conveyed; said polishing means being selectively oriented and disposed along said path for engaging a plurality of portions of each item conveyed, means for mounting said polishing means in fixed positions relative to said path, and means for clamping said needle-like items for restraining rotation thereof during engagement of said items with said polishing means.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said mounting means provide adjustment for said polishing means to various fixed positions relative to said path.

3. The machine of claim 1 wherein said conveying means comprises a plurality of holders, each holder having means for receiving a plurality of aligned items.

4. The machine of claim 3 wherein each holder includes means for clamping'ly retaining said items.

5. The machine of claim 1 wherein said conveying means includes an endless member.

6. The machine of claim 1 wherein said polishing means comprise rotatably mounted members.

7. The machine of claim 3 wherein said receiving means is adapted to retain said items in side-by'side relation with their points vertically disposed.

8. The machine of claim 3 wherein said polishing means comprise rotatably mounted members and wherein said rotatably mounted members are selectively disposed, on opposite sides of the path of items.

9. The machine of claim 3 wherein said polishing means comprise rotatably mounted members and wherein at least some of said rotatably mounted members have axes of rotation disposed in angular relationship to a horizontal plane.

10. The machine of claim 3 wherein said polishing means comprise rotatably mounted brushes.

11. The machine of claim 3 wherein the items to be conveyed are needles, and said polishing means are alternately disposed on opposite sides of said path for engaging opposite sides of needles conveyed point-up therepast.

12. The machine of claim 9 wherein said rotatably mounted members are provided with means for driving in either direction of rotation.

13. The machine of claim 2 wherein said conveying means comprises a plurality of holders, each holder having means for receiving a plurality of aligned items, and wherein said holders and polishing means are disposed relative to each other to provide means facilitating inspection of items, with the distance between adjacent polishing means being substantially equal to the length of an aligned row of items in a holder, including means for stopping the conveying of items along their path with rows of items between adjacent polishing means.

14. The machine of claim 4 wherein each holder is movable in a fixed straight linear path portion during a polishmg operation.

15. The machine of claim 4 wherein each holder is of the scissors-linkage type and includes item-engaging jaws having jaw pads for resiliently engaging needle-like items.

16. A mounting structure for a polishing device comprising a frame member having a base and a carrier plate, a polishing member, a yoke rotatably carrying said polishing member, said yoke being adjustably povitally carried by said carrier plate for movement toward and away from said carrier plate; said yoke being pivotally mounted relative to said carrier plate for adjustably altering the angular orientation of said polishing member relative to said carrier plate, in any given position of said polishing member spaced from sad carrier plate, wherein means are provided for traversing needle-like items past said polishing member in engagement therewith, in a predetermined path, and wherein support bar means for needle-like items is provided along said path, opposite said polishing member, whereby items are engaged between said polishing member and said support bar means.

17. The mounting structure of claim 16, wherein said support bar means are telescopically adjustable for repositioning dependent upon selective positioning of said polishing member.

18. The mounting structure of claim 16, wherein said polishing member is adjustable to needle-like item engaging positions on either side of said path.

19. The machine of claim 1 wherein each said mounting means comprises a frame member having a base and a carrier plate, a yoke rotatably carrying said polishing means, said yoke being adjustably pivotally carried by said carrier plate for movement toward and away from said carrier plate; said yoke being pivotally mounted relative to said carrier plate for adjustably altering the angular orientation of said polishing means relative to said car- 9 10 rier plate, in any given position of said polishing member 2,796,707 6/ 1957 Meter 51215.5 spaced from said carrier plate. 2,948,086 8/ 1960 Eger 51-80 3,355,841 12/1967 Niquet 51-219 X References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner 713,549 1/1903 Van Auken 15 33 G- KELLY, Assistant Examiner 1,322,508 11/1919 Anthony 5180 X 1,857,832 5/1932 Bailey 51-30 1,862,277 6/1932 Moon 5180 X 15-88; 5180, 217

2,525,264 10/1950 Milner 51 92 

